Binge drinking on the rise in females; local college students disagree

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By Matt Durr

Hillsdale.net - Hillsdale, MI

By Matt Durr

Posted Jan. 18, 2013 at 8:29 AM

By Matt Durr
Posted Jan. 18, 2013 at 8:29 AM

Hillsdale, Mich.

matt.durr@hillsdale.net

HILLSDALE — On any random Friday night on the majority of college campuses across the country, you can count on college students partying and drinking until they’re sick.

Binge drinking has long been associated with hard partying frat boys who prove just how tough they are by the amount of alcohol they can consume in a short time.

But a recent study conducted by the U.S Centers for Disease Control suggests that binge drinking is no longer just a problem for men. The study says that one in eight women ages 18-34 binge drink regularly and one in five high school girls do so. Of those who binge drink, it is estimated that they consume six drinks per binge and go on roughly three binges a month.

Students at Hillsdale College, however, don’t agree with that idea and say that while there are always going to be hard partiers at any college, that sort of reckless behavior isn’t normal at HC.

“I’ve never done it. The idea of getting wasted isn’t appealing to me at all,” said Amanda Gehrke, an 18-year-old English and music major at HC. “Alcohol is to be enjoyed in small amounts.”

Another HC student said she has never gotten involved with the drinking crowd because she has seen the effect it had on school work and personal relationships.

“I feel like there’s too much risk in it,” said Jesse Losli, a 19-year-old political economy major. Losli went on to say that she didn’t feel like there was pressure on campus to drink when she would go out.

Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more alcoholic drinks in the span of two to three hours. While that may not seem like a lot, one serving of beer is just 12 ounces and 80-proof liquor is 1.5 ounces.

Another way to think of it is, if you watch a football game and have one beer per quarter, you’re on the border of binge drinking.

“When I look at CDC reports and that sort of thing, we’re not anywhere in the ballpark of those numbers,” said Dr. Brock Lutz, Director of Health and Wellness for Hillsdale College. “I’m sure that there are people that binge drink at times and I would hope that if that happens those people would say ‘that wasn’t good.’”

Still, some students say that while Hillsdale College isn’t a big party school, binge drinking happens regularly.

“On weekends there’s a good amount of drinking going on,” said history major Dan Vandegriff, who added that he has seen plenty of female students have too much to drink. “They just don’t handle it as well. Plus, they don’t drink beer which you can spread out; they usually go right for a vodka drink."

Page 2 of 2 - Vandegriff admitted that he has had too much to drink on occasion, but says that it’s something that he rarely does.

With the lack of nightlife in Hillsdale, the majority of drinking by students at HC typically happens at fraternity or sorority houses because the dorms are very strict about allowing alcohol in the rooms.

“I don’t think I’ve seen one person drink in the female dorms,” said Elizabeth Bara, 19, noting that her house mother would mete out punishments for drinking violations.

Lutz said the school makes sure that they explain to students during freshmen orientation the dangers of drinking and how to avoid problems that come from it.

“For the students who do drink and are of age, we want to show them, this is how you drink responsibly,” Lutz said.

So while drinking and drinking heavily are part of the “traditional” college experience, for students at Hillsdale College, that doesn’t appear to be the case.